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Giving Thanks for Libraries and Librarians

Okay, so I know that it is kind of hokey to have a holiday themed post, but I was watching the Vlogbrothers’ video below and thought it was superb and I should think about what I’m thankful for in terms of libraries and librarians. Take a look at the video below and then let me know what you are thankful for when it comes to libraries.

I’m thankful for:
1. Public libraries that are still free and open to the public.
2. Free wifi–especially when it is available in libraries.
3. Open source software, especially open source library applications like Koha and Greenstone.
4. Internet Librarian Conference–a great way to meet other librarians that are into technology and making technology work for libraries.
5. Evidence-based Library and Information Practice (EBLIP)–a wonderful community of people trying to increase the quality of scholarship, research and practical implementation of research in libraries so we can all make better, evidence-based, data-driven decisions.
6. Banned Books Week.
7. Librarians standing up to the Patriot Act and protecting their users’ rights to read whatever they want without having anyone else in their records.
8. My awesome colleagues who are making a difference every day in students’ lives on our campus.
9. Library school students–the next generation of librarians, archivists, and information professionals who have so much enthusiasm and knowledge.
10. Library blogs–so many great blogs to read, so little time.
11. Archivists–the “new macho heroes of Washington, D.C.” and keepers of history and collective memories.
12. Twitter–finally students are reading the announcements I send out for class, instead of ignoring them (like when I used email).
13. Folksonomies–because I like the word and like to have users create descriptions that are useful to them.
14. Controlled vocabularies–because they make my life easier when I’m researching.
15. New information literacy theories/frameworks–because they treat IL in a holistic manner and not just as a skill set.
16. Open access–I don’t know what else to say about this one.
17. Innovation–keeps librarians and libraries at the head of the pack and in the position to be leaders.
18. Remote access to databases–because if I can’t get it open access, at least I can get at the information away from my desk.
19. Reference help–online, in person, whatever, it is fantastic that the library is a place where you can get help at the time and point of need.
20. Unshelved–a great comic strip for librarians.
21. xkcd–a great comic strip, period.
22.Vlogbrothers-not only because 1 of the Vlogbrothers writes young adult novels, but because they both support libraries, librarians and freedom to read (not to mention have extensive home libraries)
23. The Librarian–yes, we can argue about whether Flinn Carson is a librarian or not later, but it is a fun flick.
24. Rupert Giles of Buffy the Vampire fame–he is one cool librarian.
25. The librarians of Desk Set–’nuff said
26. Librarians who mentor those who are new to our field.
27. Interns from SJSU’s School of Library and Information Science–they come to work with us and are simply awesome.
28. International librarian community–fantastic, helpful, great.
29. Librarian-themed apparel–just for fun.
30. Card catalogs–I love online catalogs, but love the old card catalogs–they make handy storage devices.
31. Being in a profession where there is no such thing as useless trivia–one day it will be used at the reference desk.
32. Patrons that say thank you after being helped at the reference desk.
33. Interlibrary loan–too fantastic for words.
34. Library cooperatives–because we are stronger together.
35. Goodreads, LibraryThing–anything that lets me connect with others and organize my books.
36. Webinars–great way to learn and share without paying for travel.
37. Screencasting software–fantastic for online tutorials.
38. Web 2.0–lowers the threshold for becoming a producer of information online and a boon for libraries.
39. Academic libraries with open stacks.
40. Helpful archivists who love to share their repository’s collections and help researchers.
41. Professional organizations for librarians who help us stay current.
42. Being able to learn every day and apply that learning to improve library services.
43. Destroying librarian stereotypes–little by little.
44. Faculty members who realize that librarians can help their students and have us come into their classes to work with their students.
45. Books–any form or format, I love books.
46. Making libraries the heart of a campus or of a community.
47. Storytime–hook children when they are young, make reading fun, and we’ll have library users (hopefully) for life.
48. Humor–most librarians have awesome senses of humor.
49. Celebration of learning and intellectualism–I love that being a nerd or a geek is totally acceptable and a good thing in libraryland.
50. That I am employed as a librarian–I’m thankful every day to be working in this profession.

Final bonus thing(s) I am thankful for:
51. For everything that I will learn today, the people I will meet who will help me as I help them, and future library adventures.

Have a great Thanksgiving (if you are in the U.S. it will be happening tomorrow), read a lot, and let me know what you are thankful for in the comments. See you all next week.

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3 thoughts on “Giving Thanks for Libraries and Librarians”

I am thankful to be able to provide help to those that are unemployed to find jobs.
I am thankful to be a source of information to those who otherwise would not have access.
I am thankful for all of my coworkers. What a great bunch of (mostly) un-stereotypical librarians.